Locking mechanism for spinnaker poles



Se t. 21, 1965 T. 1. MOSELEY 3,207,114

LOCKING MECHANISM FOR SPINNAKER POLES Filed May 12, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 727M4W50A/ M01545) Sept. 1965 T. l. MOSELEY 3,207,114

LOCKING MECHANISM FOR SPINNAKER POLES Filed May 12, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 72444 lNiG/V 1: M05545) p 1965 T. l. MOSELEY LOCKING MECHANISM FOR SPINNAKER POLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 12, 1964 INVENTOR. 7bML/A 50/V l. M05515? United States Patent 3,207,114 LOCKING MECHANISM FOR SPINNAKER POLES Tomlinson I. Moseley, Atherton, Calif., assignor to Barient Company, San Carlos, Calif., a corporation of California Filed May 12, 1964, Ser. No. 366,763 7 Claims. (Cl. 114102) This invention relates to sailing vessels, and more particularly to a device which facilitates and expedites shifting of the spinnaker pole from one end too the other of the spinnaker during a jibbing maneuver.

The time required for shifting the spinnaker pole can be critical in a close race, and it is therefore desirable to provide some means whereby the pole can be quickly released from one end of the spinnaker, shifted to the other side of the head stay, and secured to the other end of the spinnaker. In the prior art, the securing of the spinnaker to the spinnaker pole has been accomplished by securing a ring on the spinnaker to a snap shackle on the spinnaker pole; or by latching the guy line into a snap shackle and then pulling it fast against the spinnaker pole; or by providing shackles for engagement with either a ring or a line with a trigger mechanism which automatically snaps the shackle shut upon insertion of the ring or line. However, none of these expedients were satisfactory, particularly in a high wind on the open ocean where the handling of the spinnaker pole and the spinnaker requires great strength and skill.

It was next proposed to provide a hollow spinnaker pole through which a pair of outhaul lines could be conducted from the two ends of the spinnaker to a pair of appropriate winches adjacent the mast. With this arrangement, the snap shackle became unnecessary, as the spinnaker pole could be secured to the spinnaker merely by taking in the. outhaul on the. weather side as far as it would go while slacking the outhaul on the lee side. The purpose of this arrangement was to make the spinnaker pole release controllable from the aft end. However, the disadvantage in this arrangement was that the entire stress of the spinnaker was constantly borne by the outhaul lines, which were in addition subjected to considerable friction at their point of exit from the fore end of the spinnaker pole.

The present invention overcomes this difficulty by providing an automatic locking mechanism by means of which the tack is automatically engaged by and securely locked to the fore end of the spinnaker pole as soon as the outhaul on the weather side is fully taken in. Once locked, the tack can be released from the aft end, but only by pulling a trip line housed within the spinnaker pole, whereupon the spinnaker pole can be swung over by slacking the weather side outhaul and taking in the lee side outhaul until the pole locks to the other end of the spinnaker.

It is, therefore, the object of this invention to provide a self-locking attachment mechanism for securing a spinnaker to a spinnaker pole.

It is another object of this invention to provide a locking mechanism of the kind described which permits rapid and positive shifting of the spinnaker pole during a jibbing operation while maintaining a secure and positive attachment of the spinnaker to the spinnaker pole at all other times.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a general over-all view of a sailing vessel equipped with the device of this invention, showing the general, environment in which the invention is used;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the at- 3,207,114 Patented Sept. 21, 1965 tachment of the locking cone of this invention and of the outhaul and guy lines to one end of the spinnaker;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, partly in vertical section of the mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a plan view, partly broken away along line 44 of FIG. 3 of the assembly of this invention, showing one locking cone latched in place and showing the outhauls and trip line;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section of the mechanism along line 5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the releasing and latching mechanism.

Basically, the present invention improves over the hollow spinnaker pole arrangement of the prior art by combining the handling ease and aft-end controllability of the hollow spinnaker pole with the positive metal-tometal locking action of the snap shackle and ring. The invention accomplishes this result by providing, at the fore end of each outhaul line, a locking member or cone which becomes seated in the head of the spinnaker pole as the outhaul is taken in and locks itself automatically to the head of the spinnaker pole until released by a pull on the release line.

In accordance with an optional additional aspect of the invention, the head of the spinnaker pole is-provided with an ejecting mechanism which positively ejects the locking members from the head when they are released for a jibbing maneuver, so as to prevent jamming of the cones in the head as a result of wedging or frictional stress resulting from lateral wind forces.

FIG. 1 shows a sailboat 10 with its mast 12, mainsail 14, headsail 16, and spinnaker 18 which is attached to the mast 12 at 20. The spinnaker 18 is held at its tack end 22 and clew end 24 by the spinnaker pole 26 and sheet 28, respectively. The aft end of the spinnaker pole 26 is vertically movable along the mast 12 so that its fore end can be passed under the head stay 30 during the jibbing maneuver. The vertical position of the fore end of the spinnaker pole 26 is governed by adjustment ofthe fore guy 32 and topping lift 34, The lateral position of the fore end of the spinnaker pole 26 is secured by the guy 36. In any given position of the spinnaker pole 26, the lee side outhaul 38 is slacked at winch 40 so as to hang loosely under the head stay 30, whereas the weather side outhaul 42 is fully taken in at winch 44.

FIG. 2 shows in detail one suitable method of attaching the locking cone and guy line to an end of the spinnaker. In FIG. 2, 24 again designates the clew end of the spinnaker into which is sewn an eye 46. The head 48 of the snap shackle 50 is permanently hooked through the eye 46. The eye 52 of the snap shackle 50 is connected by a strong wire link 54 to the eye 56 of the locking cone 58. The sheet 28 is also tied to the eye 52 of the snap shackle 50. The lee side outhaul 38 is in turn fastened to the cone 58 by a knot 60 (shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2) which can he slipped into the cone 58 from its upper side 62 but is too large to pass through the lower opening 64 of the cone.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the construction of the head and its mechanism will be seen to be as follows:

The head of the hollow spinnaker pole 26 is generally shown at 66. The head 66 has a pair of funnel-shaped openings 68, 70 which are adapted to alternately receive the locking cones 58 or to serve as guides for the outhauls 38, 42 as best shown in FIG. 5. The head 66 is provided with ears 7-2, 74 to which the fore guy and topping lift, respectively (32, 34 in FIG. 1), can be attached. The cones 58 have locking surfaces 76 formed around their outer periphery, which are adapted to engage the sharp ends 7-8 of latches 80. The latches 80 are pivoted on the 0 latch shaft 82 which in turn is journaled in the head 66.

The latches 80 are biased in a counterclockwise direction about latch shaft 82 by spring 84 whose forward end is secured to latch shaft 82 and whose rear end is engaged by eye 86 of the spring anchor 88. The spring anchor 88 is in turn aflixed to linkage arm 90 whose one end is journaled on latch pin 92 and whose other end is journaled on ejector pin 94. The optional ejector mechanism consists of a pair of ejector dogs 96 pivotal-1y mounted on the ejector shaft 98. The ejector dogs are secured to the trip arm 100 which is also pivoted upon the ejector shaft 98. The end of the trip line 102 is secured to the trip arm 100 at 104 and is brought upwardly over the pivot pin 106 and then rearwardly int-o the interior of the spinnaker pole 26.

A rearward pull on the trip line .102 causes trip arm 100 to rotate clockwise about ejector shaft 98. This in turn causes the ejector dog 96 to engage the rear end of the cone 58 which is in place in the head 66 at that time and push it forward out of the head 66. At the same time, the motion of the trip arm 100 is transmitted through linkage 90 to the latch pin 92, causing the latch 82 to rotate clockwise about the latch shaft 82 so as to release the cone 58.

Assuming that the outhaul 42 has been slacked at this time, the cone 58 Will be disengaged from the head 66, and the spinnaker pole 26 can now be swung over. As soon as the cone 58 has been released and the trip line 102 is slacked again, the spring 84 causes the mechanism to return to its position of FIG. 3. At the completion of the jibbing maneuver, when the other cone 58 now enters opening 70, the inclined surface 108 of cone 58 pushes the edge 78 of latch 80 aside momentarily against the bias of spring 84, but as soon as the cone 58 has fully entered the opening 70 into the position shown in FIG. 3, the latch 80, under the bias of spring 84, engages the locking surface 76 of cone 58 .and secures it tightly in opening 70 until the trip line 102 is once again pulled. It will be seen that the present invention provides an effective and simple mechanism for assuring the positive, automatic locking of the spinnaker pole to the spinnaker while at the same time providing for quick and positive release thereof from the aft end when it is desired to perform a jibbing maneuver. It will be readily seen that inasmuch as the cone is positively locked to the head of the spinnaker pole, the strain on the outhaul is completely relieved except during the actual jibbing maneuver. In addition, the rounded shape of the forward ends of the openings 68 and 70 provides a smooth surface around which the outhau'ls can be brought without danger of physical damage, as best shown in FIG. 5.

It is to be understood that the description herein and the embodiment shown in the drawings are illustrative of the invention only, and that I do not desire to be limited thereby, but only by the broadest scope of the following claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for releasably securing a spinnaker pole to alternate ends of a spinnaker during jibbing operations, comprising: a spinnaker pole having a head; means on said head receiving a pair of outhaul lines for free movement therethrough; a pair of locking members each secured to an end of said spinnaker and to an end of one of said outhaul lines; and means for releasably automatically securing said locking members to said head upon impact therewith when said outhaul lines are pulled through said head all the way to said end thereof.

2. A device for releasably securing a spinnaker pole to alternate ends of a spinnaker during jibbing operations, comprising: a spinnaker pole having a head; means on said head receiving a pair of outhaul lines for free movement therethrough; a pair of locking members each secured to an end of said spinnaker and to an end of one of said outhaul lines; means for releasably automatically securing said locking members to said head upon impact therewith when said outhaul lines are pulled through said head all the way to said end thereof; and trip means for releasing said locking members from said head.

3. A device for releasably securing a spinnaker pole to alternate ends of a spinnaker during jibbing operations, comprising: a spinnaker pole having a head; means on said head receiving a pair of outhaul lines for free move ment therethrough; a pair of locking members each secured to an end of said spinnaker and to an end of one of said outhaul lines; means for releasably automatically securing said locking members to said head upon impact therewith when said outhaul lines are pulled through said head all the way to said end thereof, said trip means including positive action means for ejecting said locking members from said head upon actuation of said trip means.

'4. A device for releasably securing a spinnaker pole to alternate ends of a spinnaker during jibbing operations, comprising: a hollow spinnaker pole; a head on said pole having a pair of generally rounded, funnel-shaped openings in the front end thereof; a pair of outhaul lines freely passing through said openings to the interior of said pole; a pair of locking members having a shape complementary to the shape of said openings; each of said locking members being secured to an end of said spinnaker and to an end of one of said outhaul lines, and being adapted to become seated in one of said openings in snug fit therewith when the outhaul line associated with it is fully pulled therethrough, said locking members having locking surfaces formed thereon; resiliently biased latch means in said head operative to lockingly engage said locking surfaces upon seating of one of said locking members in its said opening to prevent its withdrawal therefrom; resiliently biased trip means in said head for disengaging said latch means from said locking surfaces; and line means in said pole for actuating said trip means.

5. A device for releasably securing a spinnaker pole to alternate ends of a spinnaker during jibbing operations, comprising: a hollow spinnaker pole; a head on said pole having a pair of generally rounded, funnel-shaped openings in the front end thereof; a pair of outhaul lines freely passing through said openings to the interior of said pole; a pair of locking members having a shape complementary to the shape of said openings; each of said locking members being secured to an end of said spinnaker and to an end of one of said outhaul lines, and being adapted to become seated in one of said openings in snug fit therewith when the outhaul line associated with it is fully pulled therethrough, said locking members having locking surfaces for-med thereon; resiliently biased lat-ch means in said head operative to lockingly engage said locking surfaces upon seating of one of said locking members in its said opening to prevent its withdrawal therefrom; resiliently biased trip means in said head for disengaging said latch means from said locking surfaces While simultaneous-1y applying an ejecting force to said members to eject them from said openings; and line means in said pole for actuating said trip means.

6. A device for releasably securing a spinnaker pole to alternate ends of a spinnaker during jibbing operations, comprising: a hollow spinnaker pole; a head on said pole having a pair of funnel-shaped openings in the front end thereof; a pair of outhaul lines freely passing through said openings to the interior of said pole; a pair of looking members, each secured to an end of said spinnaker and to an end of one of said outhaul lines, .and being adapted to become seated in one of said openings when the outhaul line associated with it is fully pulled therethrough; said locking members having locking surfaces formed thereon; resiliently biased latch means in said head operative to lockingly engage said locking surfaces upon seating of one of said members in its said opening to prevent its withdrawal therefrom; trip means in said head for disengaging said latch means from said locking surfaces; and means for actuating said trip means.

7. A device for releasably securing a spinnaker pole to alternate ends of a spinnaker during jibbing operations,

comprising: a hollow spinnaker pole; a head on said pole having .a pair of funnel-shaped openings in the front end thereof; a pair of outhaul lines freely passing through said openings to the interior of said pole; .a pair of locking members, each secured to an end of said spinnaker and to an end of one of said outhaul lines, and being adapted to become seated in one of said openings when the outhaul line associated with it is fully pulled therethrough; said locking members having locking surfaces head operative to lockingly engage said locking surfaces upon seating of one of said members in its said opening to prevent its withdrawal therefrom; tr-ip means in said head for disengaging said latch means from said locking surfaces while simultaneously applying an ejecting force to said members to eject them from said openings; and means for actuating said trip means.

No references cited.

formed thereon; resiliently biased latch means in said 10 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR RELEASABLY SECURING A SPINNAKER POLE TO ALTERNATE ENDS OF A SPINNAKER DURING JIBBING OPERATIONS COMPRISING; A SPINNAKER POLE HAVING A HEAD; MEANS ON SAID HEAD RECEIVING A PAIR OF OUTHAUL LINES FOR FREE MOVEMENT THERETHROUGH; A PAIR OF LOCKING MEMBERS EACH SECURED TO AN END OF SAID SPINNAKER AND TO AN END OF ONE OF SAID OUTHAUL LINES; AND MEANS FOR RELEASABLY AUTOMATICALLY SECURING SAID LOCKING MEMBERS TO SAID HEAD UPON IMPACT THEREWITH WHEN SAID OUTHAUL LINES ARE PULLED THROUGH SAID HEAD ALL THE WAY TO SAID END THEREOF. 